Sean Gilbert announces plans to run for NFLPA executive director

Posted by Mike Florio on September 25, 2013, 6:01 AM EST

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In the 1990s, former Vikings coach Dennis Green wrote a book outlining his plans to eventually obtain ownership of the team. Now, one of the players who rose to prominence in the 1990s has written a book outlining his plans to run for the position of executive director of the NFL Players Association.

The player is former defensive tackle Sean Gilbert. He once sat out a full season in a contract dispute, before eventually becoming one of the rare players to change teams in exchange for a pair of first-round draft picks.

In a new book called The $29 Million “Tip”, Gilbert outlines his concerns with the current labor agreement between the league and the players, proposes an 18-game season in exchange for three years to free agency, and announces his candidacy for the job held since 2009 by DeMaurice Smith.

Smith’s contract runs through March 2015. That gives Gilbert roughly a year and a half to put the wheels in motion for a challenge to Smith. Gilbert possibly hopes that his book, which argues that the new CBA shifted $4.5 billion from the players to the league, will spark the players to act before then. (The title comes from the small — in relative terms — bonus Commissioner Roger Goodell received in exchange for generating that much money for the 32 owners via the 2011 lockout.)

Gilbert has at least one obvious supporter among the rank and file. He’s the uncle of Buccaneers cornerback Darrelle Revis, and Gilbert has advised Revis through multiple holdouts.

The book is available at Amazon.com for anyone curious to see Gilbert’s arguments. We’ll be taking a closer look at all of it and likely sharing here the most intriguing concepts.

Until then, the most important thing to realize is that Smith, who was unopposed in 2012, will have a potentially viable challenger in 2015.

viable in the sense that he can’t get as close to the current players as demaurice? not a good way to run a campaign thru a book

karlton3 says:Sep 25, 2013 8:43 AM

If he wants to get his message to the NFL player masses, he probably should pick a different media than print.

cappa662 says:Sep 25, 2013 8:59 AM

Let’s face it, DeMaurice Smith set the players back about 5 years. The players got hit with the anvil on the last CBA. 4 years to free agency is too long. Most of those guys won’t even make it past year two.

jgedgar70 says:Sep 25, 2013 9:25 AM

mrbigass says:
Sep 25, 2013 7:27 AM
Someone gave up two first round picks and I’ve never heard of this guy……….sounds right.
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I’ll be happy to clue you in.

Sean Gilbert was drafted by the Rams. He was scary good. Then he got sent to the Redskins and had a down year in his contract year. He then demanded a contract doubling his salary because, in his words, God told him to. He sat out the entire ’97 season. He sold the Panthers on his message from God, and we traded our first-round picks in ’98 and ’99 for him (we already had Miami’s ’99 first-rounder). Our front office thought Miami was about to go in the tank, and that we were going to the playoffs in ’98 and thus the ‘Skins were getting 1 high pick and 1 pick in t 20s. Instead, Gilbert was a bust after getting obscenely fat in his year sitting out, we went 4-12, fired Dom Capers, hired an over-the-hill and senile George Siefort, hired a newspaper reporter as GM (Marty Hurney), and went 1-15 in 2001. Most long-time Panthers fans are still bitter about this debacle.

Nothing Sean Gilbert says should be taken the slightest bit seriously.

11inthebox says:Sep 25, 2013 9:30 AM

@karlton3 who says:

If he wants to get his message to the NFL player masses, he probably should pick a different media than print.
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You seem to suggest that the “NFL player masses” don’t read. But if you’re being honest with yourself, you’ll admit that the NFL audience (including the PFT audience) is hardly the most literate group.

Someone gave up two first round picks and I’ve never heard of this guy……….sounds right.

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What are you, 17?

The guy was all world, until the money — or the prospect of earning more — went to his head. Then he stopped playing hard and became perpetually injured. That commercial that he had where he was having a dream may have permanently turned me off from him.

Much like Haynesworth, and Revis — who is acting a lot like Gilbert used to in the 90s.

Dom Capers was behind that move, by the way. He saddled Seifert with that mess. I am no Panthers fan, but I remember that whole situation going down, and even Capers admitted that he negotiated from a position of strength and gave up too much just to get a guy who was already a known malcontent and selfish.

cometkazie says:Sep 25, 2013 4:10 PM

I guess one down side of watching games with the sound turned down is missing players like Gilbert.

Doesn’t look as if I missed much.

tgilb5171 says:Sep 29, 2013 9:22 PM

@ mrbigass… I suggest you read up on Sean Gilbert for yourself and not take the the description provided by (jgedgar70). It simply is not accurate.

Gilbert never said, “God told him anything”. Also, if you look at his stats while with Carolina, you will see that he was not a bust. He did not get fat, he was injured and quite frequently. To my knowledge he has had a total of 12 surgeries; one for every year he played in the league.

Furthermore, the book is available on Amazon, you can read excerpts withouth paying for anything. Read it for yourself and come to your own conclusion about him.

Please don’t take someone else’s word concerning this man, he’s a bitter fan, that believed Gilbert was Carolina’s saviour and when things didn’t work out, he became a hater!

tgilb5171 says:Sep 29, 2013 9:25 PM

@Mr. Wright 212….so he is malcontent and selfish because he did not want to be declared as a teams franchise player and payed the average of all the other defensive tackles at that time, when he clearly believed he was worth more.

So if you believe your worth is more than what someone is willing to give for you, you shouldn’t stand up for what you believe.

I wouldn’t call that selfish and rebellious. I would call that standing up for yourself.

tgilb5171 says:Sep 29, 2013 9:27 PM

For the record, Sean Gilbert NEVER stopped playing hard! He has always been a hard worker. If your whole body is in pain, you would have some limitations too.